The 3,740-acre Bristol Cliffs Wilderness is the smallest wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest. Small enough to be hiked in one day, it has no designated trails. The few rough footpaths leading into Bristol Cliffs soon fade away. This gives you ample opportunity to use your compass and map-reading skills as you bushwhack through its dense forests.

The spectacular overhanging cliffs and huge rocky slopes on the western side gave Bristol Cliffs its name. The cliffs rise 1,500 feet above the Champlain Valley and offer splendid views of surrounding farmlands, Lake Champlain, and the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Devil's Pulpit, a bulging overhang of quartzite, is a special feature of the cliffs. This quartzite may have been used by Native Americans as a raw material for arrowheads and other tools. The central portion of the Wilderness remained forested despite a rich agricultural land-use history, and is probably one of the only areas in Vermont that could be called "old growth" forest.

Bristol Cliffs teems with wildlife: Beaver, white-tailed deer, black bear, and grouse. In recent years, Peregrine falcons have been sighted, and may be nesting, near the cliffs.

• Let your map and compass guide you to secluded Gilmore and North Ponds.